I love Reddit. I kill more time there than anywhere else. In its defense, I am at least able to choose the type of thing I read about more easily there, and there is no culture of taking what one has read and regurgitating it (see previous rant about Facebook). Anyway…
Today I saw a photo of two boys who were, immediately after the photo was taken, struck by lightning. It was a sad occurrence. Still, I couldn’t help being fascinated by the comments! Did you know that crouching down, head on knees, is the best position to protect against harm from lightning when shelter is not available? Did you also know that hair standing on end is a very good indicator that you should find shelter or crouch?
Even more amazing, however, are the Lichtenberg figures burnt into lightning strike survivors. They are fractal scars, maths problems that storms figure out on your skin, reflections left on people when lightning uses their skin as a mirror.
This is what your skin looks like after you’ve been struck by lightning
Old black and white Lichtenberg
Meet Winston Kemp, Lightning Strike Survivor and Lichtenberg Figure Owner | Gear Diary